


what sets your soul on fire

by Marishna



Series: Advent Calendar 2017 [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Advent Calendar, Christmas, College Student Stiles, Derek's Loft, First Kiss, Graduation, M/M, POV Derek, POV First Person, Promises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 06:46:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13002129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marishna/pseuds/Marishna
Summary: It’s just after midnight and Derek’s getting ready for bed. He grabs the book he’s been reading and tosses it on his bed before stripping his t-shirt over his head and pitching it in the direction of his hamper in the corner of his sectioned-off bedroom.He thumbs the button open on his jeans a second before there’s a knock at the door.





	what sets your soul on fire

**Author's Note:**

> Not keeping up with this advent calendar as well as I hoped I could. Any writing is writing though, and so I will try to do as much as I can!

It’s just after midnight and Derek’s getting ready for bed. He grabs the book he’s been reading and tosses it on his bed before stripping his t-shirt over his head and pitching it in the direction of his hamper in the corner of his sectioned-off bedroom.

He thumbs the button open on his jeans a second before there’s a knock at the door. It gives Derek pause because he didn’t hear anyone come up the stairs and the elevator’s been silent for at least a week since most of the pack took the stairs when they visited. He listens closely and can hear the steady, familiar beat of Stiles’ heart; it sounds like a _whoosh thump_ in Derek’s head, like all the air being sucked out of the room or the split-second when the fair ride hovers before plummeting toward the ground.

His first thought is that something’s wrong and so he’s across the floor and pulling the door open in a moment. It slides on its track and hits the end with a loud screeching thump.

Stiles raises his eyebrow at Derek but there’s a faint smirk playing on his lips that makes Derek frown back.

“What’s wrong?”

Instead of replying (always a bad sign), Stiles holds his phone out to Derek who accepts it even as he’s confused and growing uneasy. He looks down at the screen and sees a webpage for Stiles’ college.

“I don’t get it,” he says slowly even as his eyes scan down a list he recognizes as the courses Stiles was taking this semester.

“You said,” Stiles starts as he takes a step and narrows the small gap between them. “That we could have that talk once I graduated.”

Derek’s face heats up as he remembers that night back in May, when Stiles came home from college for the summer. They ended up in Scott’s backyard well after midnight, pressed together against the side of the garage breathing each other’s air.

***

_”We can’t,” Derek pleads in a faint whisper as Stiles’ fingers find their way under the band of his jeans and brush the soft skin at the swell of his ass cheeks._

_Stiles shakes his head. “I’m not hiding it anymore. You’re not doing any better,” he coaxes gently as his lips graze the sensitive skin just under Derek’s jawline. They both had a few drinks at the pack reunion but Derek feels stone sober and can feel a soft, pleasant buzz coming off Stiles._

_“Stiles, no.” Derek gathers his strength to gently push him away even as he admitted to himself that he didn’t want to. “Just-- not yet,” he amends when he sees Stiles prepare to protest._

_Stiles swallows hard. “When, then?”_

_Derek sighs as he lightly keeps his hold on Stiles’ arms to keep him in place, or maybe himself in his own. “When you’re done school. You need to finish your degree.”_

_They shake on it (a little clumsily) and Derek goes to sleep every night for almost seven months believing Stiles will have long forgotten their agreement._

***

“You haven’t graduated yet,” Derek says dumbly in response. Stiles rolls his eyes and plucks his phone out of Derek’s hands.

“I’m not walking until the spring, remember? And this,” Stiles taps on his phone to enlarge a particular class. “Is the last mark I was waiting for that makes it official. I’m done. With. College.”

Stiles steps closer with every word. Derek tries to back up but he runs into the doorframe and suddenly Stiles freezes.

“Unless, um,” he hesitates.

“Unless?” Derek pushes.

“I got it wrong?”

There’s a fragile cautiousness to Stiles’ tone, one Derek hasn’t heard in years, in times when it seemed as if Stiles’ life was falling down around him. Derek raises his hand and brushes his fingertips over the scattering of moles on Stiles’ skin before curling his fingers around the back of his neck and slowly pulling him in for a soft, chaste kiss.

“You’re not wrong,” Derek whispers when they pull apart. “Come inside?”

Stiles nods and lets Derek lead him by the hand into the loft as he says, “Oh, and Derek?”

Derek starts to close the door. “Hmm?”

“I already blew my present budget so I guess I’m your gift. Ready to unwrap me?”

The sound of the loft door slamming shut reverberates through the entire building.


End file.
